


Hold me closer

by Talentedbind



Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, College Student Derek, College Student Stiles, Falling In Love, Human Derek Hale, M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-10-19
Updated: 2016-11-17
Packaged: 2018-08-23 10:19:09
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 10,472
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8324083
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Talentedbind/pseuds/Talentedbind
Summary: Almost seven years after the tragic accident that wiped away almost everyone in his family, Derek is finally ready to start at college. He his trying to forget his past and start a new live, but he is still struggling with his demons. On the first day he meets Stiles. His clumsy neighbor who literally falls into his lap. Through him Derek will discover that old wounds can heal over time and that he is not the only one carrying his demons around.





	1. Chapter 1

Derek let himself slide in to the corner seat of the last row. He was just taking a pencil and his notebook out of his backpack for performance sake, while the professor entered the room. It was a small man with grayish hair and some round glasses. Derek sighed, he had been too late signing up for classes and now he got stuck taking lit 101. And seeing the professor just made it worse. The guy looked like someone found him in the attic, dusted him of a bit, and tried to sell him off as a professor. The professor started his lecture off by telling some anecdote about how Shakespeare saved his live, or something. Derek didn't know and didn't care much either, he had already dozed off by that time.

 

 

About ten minutes in there was a knock on the door. And the professor yelling; “come in” brought Derek back out of his doze. The door was opened from the outside and a young man came through. In one hand he was holding a big stack of paper, in the other he was juggling a bag. “I'm so sorry for being late”, he started off; “I couldn't find this place anywhere”. “This is lit 101, right?” A few people snickered when he said that. The professor just looked at him for a few seconds, and then told him to find a seat. Derek quickly lost interest and looked at his phone. Damn... only 15 minutes had past. He was stuck here for 75 more.

 

 

Someone gently pushed his shoulder. He jerked up and looked directly into the eyes of the latecomer. It were the most enchanting eye's he had ever seen. Eyes were you could disappear into. “I'm sorry”, said the guy, “I didn't mean to startle you”. “Can I please sit next to you”? Derek looked around, there were at least 20 empty seats in his row and about 40 more scattered across the room. But he couldn’t bring himself to say no to the guy. He pulled his bag of the seat next to him. “By all means, it’s yours now”.

 

 

The guy smiled at him and stared sliding towards the seat while looking directly at Derek. Derek just couldn’t look away. One moment he was looking in the guy’s eyes, and next he saw him tripping over something. He wanted to tell him to watch out, but it was already too late. There was a whirlwind of paper in the air. The owner of that paper mess fell with his bum right in Derek’s lap, while his head banged against the arm rest of the chair he was trying to get too.

 

 

Derek heard a muffled yelp and saw the guy reaching for his head. And when he turned his he head, Derek saw he had a pretty nasty cut on it. “Are you okay?” Derek asked. “I’m fine”, said the guy, while he tried to sit up. But halfway it seemed like he couldn’t and he started to fall back down.  Derek quickly grabbed him around his waist and pulled him up. “Easy now, try not to hurt yourself.”

“I’m so sorry for falling all over you.” While he said that he gave Derek a shy smile and he’s cheeks turned cherry red. Derek shrugged his shoulders and said; “It’s alright, I’m not made out of glass now, am I?”

 

 

“Please, let me look at your head. It seems like you have cut yourself on the chair pretty bad.” “Hem…,” the other man started; “Maybe I can go sit on my own chair first. I’m still sitting in your lap, and I really have nothing against it, but everyone is staring at us.” Derek looked around saw that indeed everyone was gazing at them. He hadn't really registered that the guy was still sitting in his lap. He immediately felt uncomfortable. He tried to hide it but he already felt a warmth creep up his face. He tried to look away, but the guy already noticed it.

 

 

He stood up and let himself sink in to the chair next to Derek’s. He turned the back of his head to Derek. And for a moment Derek just stared at him, not sure what to do. “How am I looking?” the guy said. Derek didn’t know what to say and he let out something so incoherent even he didn’t understand what he just said. The guy turned his head and looked at him. “My wound, you told me you would look at it.”

 

 

"Oh, yeah, right. Turn your head and I will look at it." He carefully pulled some of his blood drenched dark curls out of the wound. "Looks like it is a deep cut. I can't really see though, there is an awful lot of blood. Do you have something like a tissue or something?" But before he could get an answer the professor started ranting. "Do you think you can take this outside? I'm trying to teach here. First you come in late, and now you keep on babbling. The youth now a days, no respect. If you don't want to be here you can just pack your back and go." 

 

 

The guy wanted to object, but Derek stopped him. "Let's just go, you need someone to look at your head. It might need sutures."

 

 "But..."

 

"Let’s just go." 

 

"But I dropped my essay while I stumbled."

 

So that's what the paper stack was. "We will get it after we get you checked. Just come with me please." The professor started ranting again.

 

"Can't you see he is in pain?"

 

But the professor didn't seem to care too much and kept on ranting. Derek couldn't take it anymore and shot a "Fuck off" at him. Which resulted in the professor starting to yell. "Who do you think you are? I won't allow you to set foot in this room again for the rest of the semester. And you can take your friend with you. I don't want to see him either." "That's fine by me," Derek yelled back; "didn’t what to be here to begin with" He knew that he could get in trouble over this but right now he didn’t care. He stood up and he told the guy next to him to come with him.

 

He picked up his backpack a stared to descend from the stairs towards the exit. He looked back, only to see that the guy take a very weak step and then fall into his former seat. Derek hasted himself back up.

 

"Are you alright? Because you are looking a bit pale."

 

"I'm fine, I just feel a tad dizzy."

 

"Here, let me help you." He took the bag of the guy in one hand, while he held his other one out.

 

"Lift up your left arm for me."

 

The guy lifted up his right arm.

 

"The other left please."

 

The guy looked at him and quickly raised his left arm. Derek grasped him under his arm. "Now hold onto me with your other arm. I'm gone lift you up now." The guy grasped him around his waist and Derek started to slowly pull him out of his chair. The guy held on to him very tightly and managed to get up. They slowly started walking down. He felt the other people in the room staring at them. Some seemed sympathetic, but others couldn't seem to get rid of them soon enough. "Sjeez" he huffed. "What's wrong with those people, the pricks lecture can't be that insightful."

 

 

It took them a while, but they made it to the door. Once they were outside he put the other guy against the wall. He stepped away a bit to create a bit of distance between the two of them. The guy seemed to be doing a bit better. Derek grabbed his bag, look inside, and found the breakfast bar he was looking for. “Here, eat this. It might help you feel better.”

 

“Thanks. I’m Stiles, in case you wondered.”

 

Stiles smiled at him. “Don’t I get the name of the man that saved me?”

 

Derek looked at him. “Oh, yeah, right, I’m Derek”

 

“Well nice to meet you Derek.”

 

Derek didn’t quite know what to say, so he just smiled back.

 

 

While Stiles was eating his bar, Derek looked at him closely. There was a ray of sunshine falling on his dark curls which made them look almost blond. He was wearing a dark blue V-neck, which showed off his, thin but muscled, arms. They were lightly tanned and had hundreds of tiny sun freckles scattered over them. And then there were hose eyes. Derek thought he had never seen such beautiful eyes.

 

“Are you looking at me?”

 

Derek looked away and again didn’t know what to say. It seemed like Stiles had that effect on him. He felt himself blushing and began to stare to the floor like it was the most interesting thing he had ever seen Stiles tried to grasp his arm but Derek stepped away, leaving Stiles’s hand mid-air. He felt Stiles looking at him, but he didn’t say a word. 

 

“I finished the bar. Would you mind bringing me to the school nurse? I don’t think I know where to find her.”

 

“Yeah sure. Do you think you can walk by yourself or do I need to help you?”

 

“I think I will be alright for now. If we can just walk slowly.”

 

Derek picked up the bags he had dropped to the groaned and started walking in the direction of the school nurse. Stiles followed him. But before the made it to the end of the hallway Stiles started walking funny.

 

“Just grasp my arm,” Derek said; “Don’t want to have to carry you to the nurse.”

 

Stiles grasped his arm and smiled thankfully at him. And they walked silently to the school nurse.

 

The school nurse was a women in her fifties, grey hair neatly in a knot on the back of her head. She told Stiles sit on the examination table. She put on some green latex gloves and wiped some hair out of the wound. “Alright, it’s a pretty nasty cut but I don’t think you need sutures. I will clean it and put some suture tape over it and you will be ready to go.”

 

“What about his dizziness.” Derek asked.

 

“Did you have breakfast this morning?” the nurse asked Stiles. He shook his head.

 

“I overslept and didn’t want to be late on my first day. So I kind of skipped it this morning.” He blushed while looking away from Derek.

 

“That might explain it,” she answered; "not eating and losing blood might do that to you". She looked at Derek. “Do you guys know each other? Because I want you to take him home after this. Give him something to eat and let him sleep for a while. But he might have a concussion so you need to wake him every two hours to see if he is still responsive. Do you think you can do that?”

 

Stiles tried to say that Derek didn’t have to do that, but he already told the nurse he would do it.

 

The nurse stood up to find some tape and cleaning alcohol.

 

“You really don’t have to do that. I will just call my father or step-mom. they live close by, it's only a three hour drive. I will be fine till then.”

 

“Don’t, I'm already here. Just let me help you.” And while he said that he smiled at Stiles. That seemed to win him over because Stiles let the subject go.

 

The nurse returned. “You might want to hold on to something because this will sting.” Stiles grasped the edge of the table. The nurse poured some liquid on the wound and Derek saw Stiles cringe. She cleaned the wound and wiped the blood out of his hair. After that she put the tape on the wound. “You’re all set” she said and she pulled of here gloves. “You need to come back in a week to let me see how the wound has healed. Call me if you have the feeling that something isn’t right or if you have any questions.” She gave Stiles her card and he slowly stood up, immediately Derek’s arm.  Derek cringed a bit under the firm grasp, but didn’t say a word.

 

The nurse also give him a card. “I want you to take good care of him. Call me if you notice anything strange. And don’t forget to wake him up every two hours. Especially tonight.” Derek nodded, he would take care of Stiles. Stiles thanked the nurse and they slowly walked out of her office.


	2. Chapter 2

“Where do you live?’ Derek asked. They were slowly, but steadily, walking towards the main building.

“I just moved into one of those, you know, like container apartment on the east side  of campus.” Stiles answered.

“Yeah, I know them. I live there as well. 308, just moved in 3 weeks ago.”

Stiles stopped walking and turned towards Derek. “No kidding. I’m 306. That means we are neighbors.”

Derek looked at him and started laughing. “You’re the prick that woke me up Saturday morning at 8, constantly knocking furniture against my wall.” Stiles started laughing too, but immediately grabs his head. “Ahw, don’t make me laugh, it hurts!”

Derek looked at him, worry written all over his face. “I’m okay” Stiles quickly said, trying to un-worry Derek. “It just hurts a little bit.”

“Let’s get you home then.”  


They started walking again and grasped on to Derek’s  arm again. His arms were tanned and muscled, and felt warm under his touch. Stiles looked at Derek. He was very good looking with his short dark hair, his well-formed muscles, friendly smile and his piercing blue eyes. Stiles told himself not to look to hard. Derek probably wasn’t gay and he could really use a friend here. He couldn’t ruin it by like liking him. So he tore his eyes away from Derek and concentrated on walking home.

It took them at least four times longer than normal to get to the apartments. He had needed to sit down three times because he felt like the floor was spinning. But Derek had waited patiently at his side. He couldn’t quite understand why someone would do that for him, but Derek didn’t seem to mind at all. They arrived at 306.

“This is me. Can you give me my bag so I can find my keys?”

Derek handed him his bag. He opened the door. There where boxes and furniture everywhere. Scattered across the room as if there had been a tornado in his room. He hadn’t had the time to unpack any of it. He had put his mattress on the floor so he could sleep, but that was it. After moving on Saturday he had gone back to his father’s house to celebrate his sisters’ second birthday. He had come back yesterday late in the evening. That was the reason he had overslept this morning.

He saw Derek looking around. “I’m sorry, I just moved in Saturday and I haven’t had the time yet.”

Derek looked him and smiled. That smile gave Stiles butterflies.  “You should have seen mine when I just moved in. It was way worse than yours. At the first day a wanted to find a t-shirt. And it needed to be that particular t-shirt. But I couldn’t remember in which box it was. So I turned every box upside down until I found it in the last box.  So there I was, sitting in my room, favorite t-shirt in hand with the place looking like it threw up on itself.” Stiles started laughing and almost immediately regretted it. He felt like someone was bashing his head in with a hammer.

“Stop making me laugh. It’s so not fair.”

Derek smiled at him, “I kind of like to hear you laugh, it’s nice. Didn’t mean to hurt you though.”

 “I quite like laughing too, normally.” He said in return. That was kind of a lame response, he thought by himself.

“Come let’s go next door. You can sleep in my bed and I can sit on my couch. I don’t feel like sitting on the floor all day.”

He nodded at Derek. “That seem like a good plan to me.”

 

They turned around and he locked up behind them. Derek was already opening the next door. They walked across the hallway into the living room. Derek’s  apartment looked exactly like his. Except of course for the part that Derek’s  furniture was already in place and there were no boxes. There were picture frames everywhere. Some of Derek, some of other people. Derek holding a new born, Derek wearing a soccer outfit holding a trophy, Derek on a mountain, Derek with a group of, what he presumed were, friends. Stiles felt like he had been given an insight into Derek’s  live.

He let himself sink down on a small white couch. It was just big enough to hold two people. His head started to hurt more every second. He just wanted to lay down right now. 

“Do you want something to eat?”

“I’m really not that hungry. I just want to sleep honestly. I know the nurse said I needed to eat something, but I just feel too tired to sit up right now.”

“Alright, I will let you sleep for two hours, but then you will have to eat something alright. I will make you some chicken soup or something. Do you like chicken soup? Or should I make you something else?”

He smiled; “Chicken soup is my favorite.”

“Let’s get you to bed then.”

Derek reached out his arm for Stiles and he thankfully grasped it. He pulled himself up himself while he was heavily hanging on Derek’s  arm. The bedroom was only a few steps away from the living room and Stiles was very thankful for that fact. Derek put him down on the double bed and he laid down immediately. Derek turned around and opened his closet and grasped something out of it.

“These might be a little too big for you, but it might be more comfortable than sleeping in the clothes you’re wearing.”

He threw the clothes against Stiles’ chest. Stiles sat back up and unfolded the t-shirt.

“Band camp huh. You don’t seem like a band camp kind of guy to me.”

 

“Yeah, well, I don’t know, ehhh…” Derek started to ramble again.

Stiles felt bad for him. “I didn’t mean it like that. I just thought you were more of sports type kind of guy. I mean I saw the lacrosse picture in your living room. I spent most of my summers in theater camp.”

Stiles saw that Derek almost looked relieved. He made a mental note to ask him about it. He grasped the clothes. There were also some sweatpants. “I think I’m ready to go to sleep now.”

“Yeah, alright. I just need to go to the store for a little bit. But I can stay until you are asleep. Please yell if you need anything.”

“I will be okay, just go and do you thing. Thanks again for helping me.”

“No problem. I will leave you alone now. I will see you in two hours.”

Derek turned, walked through the door and tapped it twice before he closed it.

Stiles took his clothes of and slipped in Derek’s . Derek had been right, there were a tad too big, but that made them all the more comfortable. They smelt like Derek. He pushed some of the many pillows of the bed and crawled under the blanket. The moment his head hit the pillow, he fell asleep.

 

“Hey, you’ve got to wake up man, Stiles…Stiles… wake up. You have slept long enough.”

He turned his head towards the sound. Two blue eyes were staring at him. It took him a moment to remember where he was. And when he remember where he was, and most importantly why he was there, he felt ashamed. Gosh, he tripped over the guy and now he was sleeping in his bed. But when he saw Derek smiling at him those thoughts seemed to disappear immediately.

“Good, you’re awake. The soup is ready. Do you think you can join me in the kitchen or do you want to eat it here?”

“Give me a minute and I will join you.”

“Alright, I will be in the kitchen.” Derek left the room, tapping the door twice again.

Stiles let himself fall back into the bed for a minute. It was a real nice bed, very nice, warm, comfy, and he was already sleeping again.  


He woke up 15 minutes later. Derek was standing in the doorpost. “The soup is ready, are you coming?” He nodded and stepped out of the bed.

“How long did I sleep?”

“Three and a half hour.” Derek blushed. “I know I was supposed to wake you up earlier, but you looked so peaceful. I couldn’t bring myself to waking you up.”

He tried to stand up, but he immediately noticed that he was still very dizzy. Derek stepped forward and offered him his arm.

“Thanks, I don’t know what I would have done without you.”

Derek laughed. “It’s the least I could do after I got you expelled from professor douches’ class.”

Stiles had almost forgot about that. “To be honest, I just signed up for the class because I had to pick something. And besides that the guy was an ass. So I’m glad you saved me from that.” He laughed and Derek followed suit.

“Yeah, that guy really was such an ass.”

 

They walked in to the living room and something smelt delicious. There was a pan on the stove and there were some baguettes on the countertop. Derek let him to stools behind the breakfast bar.

“Sit down here and I will get you your soup.”

Derek walked around and picked some bowls out of a cupboard. He filled them, placed one in front of Stiles and the other one in front of the stool next to Stiles. Derek started cutting the bread and gave him some. The placed some next to his bowl and opened a drawer. He took out two spoons, walked around the breakfast bar and sat himself down on the stool next to Stiles.

“Enjoy you soup.”

“Thank you, it really smells amazing.”

Stiles dipped his bread into the soup and ate it. Wow, this was the good stuff. It tasted delicious, not too salt, and not too faint, it was right amount of spicy, and it was really savory. And above all it actually tasted like chicken.

 “How did you make this? It’s so good.”

“I had some time on my hands while you were sleeping so I decided to make it from scratch.”

“Where did you learn to cook like this?”

“My mom loved to cook. She thought me. She learned it from her mom and my grandma from her mom and so on. This recipe has been handed down through generations. It’s my absolute favorite.”

Stiles heard a slight hitch when Derek talked about his mom. So decided to leave it for the time being. He could understand if Derek didn’t want to talk about it, and het didn’t want to pressure him. So instead he talked about the soup.

“I can understand that. It’s one of the best I have ever had. You have to give me the recipe so I can make it myself.”

“Yeah sure, I will make you a copy.”

 

They finished their meal in silence. It wasn’t an awkward silence. It was more of a peaceful kind of silence. Stiles liked the fact that they could just sit there without the need to talk. His head still hurt, so this was all he could handle right now. And Derek seemed to sense that.

 

When they had finished their meal Derek stood up and washed their bowls. Stiles felt a lot better with some food in his stomach. But the meal had also exhausted him. Derek saw that he looked tired.

“Here take this.” And he gave Stiles some Advil and a glass of water. “It will help against the headache you must surely have. Stiles took the Advil and drained the glass.

“Come, let me help you back to bed. I think you need to sleep some more. I will wake you up in two hours this time. And he smiled. “I bet you will fell a lot better afterwards.”

Stiles gave into Derek and let him help him back to bed. He tumbled into the bed and he felt Derek put the blanket over him.

“Sleep tight”

Stiles wanted to say something back but he was too tired. He heard Derek take a few steps back, but Derek didn’t seem to leave the room.  He thought it was a little odd but he was asleep before he could think anything of it.


	3. Chapter 3

Derek looked at Stiles while he was falling asleep. He looked at the wound on Stiles head. The white tape stood in great contrast with his dark hair. It pained Derek to see it. It made him think about what would have happened if Stiles hadn't stumbled over his legs but over the legs of someone else. He imagined Stiles lying on his mattress on the floor, all by himself. He doubted Stiles would have called anyone for help. He shrugged the thoughts away, Stiles was here now and he would take care of him.

 

He looked his watch, 16:03, he would wake Stiles at six. He sat down on the couch and picked up a magazine from the coffee table. He shifted through it, when he suddenly remembered that they forgot to pick up Stiles’ essay at the lecture hall. He wrote a quick note for Stiles, putted the note on bedroom door and walked back to the university.

 

When he arrived at the lecture hall the professor was still in there. The guy was sitting at his desk reading a manuscript. He tried to walk away, but the professor looked up from what he was reading and recognized him.

"What are you doing here? I thought I told you that I didn't want to see you in here again."

"My friend lost his essay when he fell down this morning. I just wanted to pick it up. I'm sorry about this morning. I can come back another time if you want."

Derek really wasn't sincere about his apology.  But he felt like that that was the best way to go right now. He just wanted the damn essay.

The professor stared at him, sighed and reached under his desk. He handed Derek a stack of paper. "Here, someone has already gathered it."

"Thank you.”

“Yeah, yeah, now get out of here before…”

 Derek turned around and stepped out of the room before the professor could finish his sentence.

 

His next stop was the administration office. He wanted to try to get him and Stiles transferred to some other class. And apparently he wasn’t the only one that wanted to switch classes. It took a while, but after a while he could finally speak to someone. Someone that seemed to be his aged sat behind the desk in front of him.

“Hi, what can I help you with today?”

“I have a small problem” He told her the whole story. About how Stiles had tripped and how they got kicked out of professor Archibald’s class, About the nurse. Basically his whole day up until this point. “So now I wanted to see if maybe we could transfer into some other class.”

“That’s quite a story. Archibald is a real dickhead you know. But he’s good at what he does so they keep him around. Give me your info and I will take a look in the system.”

Derek gave her his student pass and Stiles’ information. She typed away in her computer. “Alright, as you already might have figured out we don’t have that many options. I’ve got a biology prep course.” She scrolled further. “This might interest you, there are some slots in a modern cinematography class.”

Derek smiled. “yeah I think that will fit.”  

 

When he got back home more than 1,5 hour had past. He took a peak into his bedroom. Stiles was still sleeping. He wandered back to the couch and resumed reading the magazine.

 

He stopped reading when he thought he heard something. When he didn't hear it again he stared reading again. But five minutes later he heard it again. It sounded like someone was crying. _Stiles._ He jumped up and walked to the bedroom.

Stiles was still sleeping. But Derek could clearly see that he had been crying. Stiles had kicked the blanket of himself, his t-shirt had crept up and had left his belly exposed. There was a giant burse on his abdomen. How was it that he hadn’t noticed that before? 

Derek didn't know what to do. He wanted to comfort Stiles but he didn't know how. He decided that not waking Stiles up was the best option for now. He needed his sleep to heal. So he shrugged down Stiles’ t-shirt as good as possible, and he tried to put the blanket back, while trying not to wake him up. But the movement woke Stiles up nonetheless.

"What is happening? Where am I?" He sounded panicky.

"Shhhh... You're okay. You're sleeping in my bed, because you tripped. Remember?"

Stiles looked up at him. "Derek?"

"Yes, I'm here Stiles. Please go back to sleep."

He picked the blanket of the floor and covered Stiles with it. He wanted to leave the room when he heard a tiny, sleepy voice. "Can you sit next to me till I fall asleep?"

He felt a bit uncomfortable with it, but Stiles looked at him with his sad puppy eyes. He wondered if anyone could resist that. _._ So he took a deep breath and sat down on the far end of the bed.

"Sit here" Stiles tapped on the part of the bed next to him. He stood up slowly and shyly sat down against the headboard. Both feet on the floor. As far away from Stiles as possible. He needed the space.

“Thanks.” And with that, Stiles fell asleep.

 

Derek woke Stiles at exactly 6 o’clock. Although he had been awake in-between, he felt it would be best if he kept the two hour regime. Then he woke Stiles again at eight and at ten.

It was almost midnight. He seriously hadn’t left the bed since Stiles asked him to sit there. So his back had started to ached a bit, he was famished and he also needed take a leak, so he wouldn't wet his pants. He stood up as gently as possible and went to the bathroom.

 

When he came back into the bedroom, he found Stiles sitting straight up in the bed. Tears were rolling down his face, but he wasn't making any sound. Derek stopped at the doorpost. He didn't want to invade Stiles’ privacy, but he also didn't want him to be sad. Not knowing what to do he just kept standing on the doorpost? The whole seen felt a bit awkward to him but Stiles didn't seem to notice it, or him for that matter.

 

After what felt like forever, Stiles finally looked up. His eyes red and puffy.

 

"What happened?"

 

"I'm okay now"

 

"Stiles" He took a step towards Stiles. "You can tell me, I won't judge. But if you don't want to tell, it's alright as well. Just, I don't know." He was silent for a second. "Just tell me if you want to, I think it might help."

 

Stiles looked down. "I just had a bad dream, I guess. And then I woke up and I couldn't remember where I was, or how I got here. It only lasted a second, but I panicked. "

 

"It's alright now." He looked at Stiles and he hoped the other man knew that it was okay.

 

"I'm famished, how about you? Are you ready to eat something?"

"I'm a bit nauseous. But I would love me some toast."

"Alright, let's see if I have some toast. Do you need help getting up?"

"I think I got it, but thanks"

Derek watched as Stiles slowly got up. The first few steps were a bit gingerly, but after that he was fine.

 

It turned out that he didn't have any toast, but he found some biscuits. Stiles was very content with them and said they remembered him of his grandma. Which, in Stiles’ eyes, was a good thing.

Derek settled for some bacon and eggs himself. He was just breaking an egg above the frying pan, when he heard Stiles squeal.

 

"How did you get this back?"

Stiles was holding the essay in his hands. It had already slipped Derek' mind.

"I went back to the lecture hall and got it for you. I didn't want this day to be any worse than it already was. What are you going to do with it anyway?"

“It was for this other class that I’m taking. You had to write something about your most formative experience.”

"That is some deep stuff for a first class.” Stiles nodded. “Oh and I’ve got something else for you.” Derek said.

"You do?"

"Yeah, I went to the administration office because I wanted to get us in to some other class so you know, we wouldn’t fall behind, and I got us into this modern cinematography class."

"Are you for real?" Derek nodded. Stiles’ face lighted up. "I could kiss you right now you know. Thank you so much."

Derek blushed. "It was no trouble at all. I couldn’t let this be your worst first day ever now, could I?"

“Thank you”

They just stood there a moment, staring into each other’s eyes.

 

“Do you smell something? It smells like fire in here.”

“Shit, shit, shit.” He turned around. “I left the eggs on the furnace.”

He took the pan of the furnace and looked at it. The eggs were burnt to crisps and smelled real bad.

Stiles giggled. It was the most beautiful sound Derek had ever heard. It was just so adorable.

"What's so funny?"

"If you could see you your face right now..." He continued giggling. Derek looked at Stiles and started laughing.  Stiles’ giggling was so contagious, the only thing he could do was laugh.

“It is quite funny, isn't it?"

By now Stiles was laughing uncontrollably, so he just nodded.

Stiles grabbed his head. "You make me laugh, and my head starts hurting. How is that fair?" He said. Now he was laughing and pouting at the same time. Derek didn't even know that that was possible.

 

Derek baked himself some new eggs and they ate in silence. Stiles started to look tired again.

"I think it's time to get to bed. I'm tired and you look even worse."

Stiles yawned.

Derek smiled. "I take it that's a yes."

"Where are you going to sleep?"

"I think I will just take the couch."

"You have done so much for me, I don't want to take your own bed from you as well."

"I will be fine, I have slept on that couch several times and it quite comfortable actually."

"Are you sure? Because I can sleep in my own bed too, you know."

"I still have to wake you up every two hours. No, you are going to sleep in my bed. I will be fine."

 

Derek lied. It was terrible to sleep on the couch. It was way too short for him and there was a metal spring poking in his back. His tossed around on the couch for two hours until it was time to wake up Stiles. When he fell back on the couch after, he was exhausted. He had woken up at 4:30 this morning. Be now he had been awake for almost 23 hours. Still he couldn’t fall asleep on the couch. So when he woke up Stiles again and got the offer to sleep in the bed as well, he thankfully accepted.


	4. Chapter 4

Sleeping in the same bed as Derek, was like sleeping with a furnace. Although he was on the other side of the bed, as far away from Stiles as possible, Stiles could still feel the heat radiating of him. The morning light was flooding through the thin curtains. He looked at the alarm at the bedside table, it was almost nine o'clock. Derek had woken him every two hours during the night and he saw the next alarm for 17 minutes from now. He disabled it, he was quite sure he didn't have a concussion and he wanted Derek to get some sleep.  

The fact that Derek was still asleep, gave him the time to admire him. Well, to be fair, he could just see Derek’s  back. But that was also quite a sight. His skin tanned in a way that looked like he spent most of his time on the beach. His muscles were well-formed and clearly visible. Stiles had to fight the urge to touch them. Derek’s  lower body was covered with a blanket which concealed it from sight. But the blanket couldn’t cover the clear shape of what was underneath it. Stiles couldn't fight it anymore and ran his hand over Derek’s  back. Derek was sound asleep, but flinched at the contact. He quickly pulled back. He silently said Derek’s name to make sure that he was really asleep but Derek didn't react. After a while Stiles fell asleep again, dreaming about Derek.

 

It's was near noon when he woke up again. Derek had already left the bed. He let out a big yawn and stepped out of the bed. _Gosh, I smell_ , he thought. Assuming Derek was in the living room, he yelled; "Can I use your shower?" When he didn't get a reaction, Stiles decide to take a look. He found Derek in the kitchen, his back facing Stiles. He had headphones on and was humming with the music, while he was making, what appeared to be, sandwiches. He tapped him on the shoulder. Derek was startled by it. He pulled of his headphones and turned around. 

"Oh, hi, good morning. Did you sleep okay?"

Derek seemed to ignore the fact that he was startled.

"Yeah, I slept fine. Still a bit tired though. How about you, did you sleep okay?"

"I slept alright."

"Can I use your shower real quick? I smell like the locker rooms at the gym."

"Of course, you didn't need to ask that. I will just grab you some towels and a clean t-shirt, after that it's all yours."

"Thanks, I appreciate it."

The shower did wonders for him. And when he stepped out from under it, he felt like his old self again. He looked in the mirror. Some of the tape on his wound had fallen of in the shower. He looked at the wound, it didn't look as horrid as he had thought. It would most certainly leave a scar, but that would be mostly covered by his hair. The giant bruise on his abdomen was a whole other story. It had been there before the whole lecture room incident. It looked even more gruesome than it had been when it just happened. Patched of dark green, purple, red, blue, and yellow alternated each other across his skin. It covered most part of his belly. There were dozens of small cuts, left there by the gravel. The memory of the accident made him shiver. _You're safe here, you're safe here, and you’re safe here._ He said it to himself like a mantra. _He can't find you here. You are safe, at least for now_. When he calmed down, he put on the clean t-shirt that Derek had put on the sink. He smirked a bit when he saw who was on it, Thor. Of course Derek liked the thunder-god. He found his own jeans in the bedroom and joined Derek in the kitchen.

"I called the administration’s office this morning, you don't have to go back to school till Monday. She cleared it with all your professors. The will send you their notes so you don't have to worry. She told me, to tell you, to get well soon." 

"Thank you, you really didn't have to do that. But to be honest I was a little worried about it. It feels weird, missing the first week. So thank you."

"It was really in my own interest to call her. I missed a few classes myself. So since we have some free time, how would you like to go to the beach? I would love to go catch some waves."

He really wanted to go, but he couldn't. He didn't want Derek to see the bruise. So he made up a lame excuse about not liking the beach.

"...it's just so sandy. But you can obviously go if you want. I will be okay."

"Is this about the bruise on your stomach? I saw it yesterday, how did you get that? You much have hit me pretty bad."

He looked away, he didn't want Derek to know what happened.

"It isn’t your fault. It was already there."

Derek looked at him, Stiles could see that he had questions.

"So do you want to go to the beach? You can just wear a t-shirt or a wetsuit or something."

"Alright, let's go to the beach." He smiled at Derek.

Derek’s  face lit up like Christmas came early.

"You have to eat breakfast first, I hope you like pancakes."

"Who doesn't love pancakes?"

Derek laughed. "Only crazy people."

 

The beach is only a 10 minutes away from campus, but Derek says he wants to show him the most beautiful beach in the area. Which, of course, happens to be 2 hours away. But drive is definitely worth it. Derek drives them to a secluded bay you can only access if you know where to find the small metal staircase hidden behind the bushes. Once Derek opens the trunk of the car Stiles sees he has brought a lot of stuff. There is a cooler, a duffel bag with clean clothes and towels, a parasol, a blanket, an air mattress and two smaller bags from which he didn't knew it contents.

"How long were you planning to stay here?" He says with a smile on his face.

"I know it looks a bit excessive, but we'll need everything. I promises."

"You got this whole thing planned, huh."

Derek blushes and tries looking away. Gosh he is cute when he does that, Stiles thought by himself.

“Can you carry the cooler?” Derek said while handing him the cooler. He takes the cooler out of Derek’ hands and Derek takes all of the other stuff out of the trunk. Once they reach the beach the settle down close to the ocean. They came across some abandoned fire pits on their way. The only other people on the beach are to elder people with three grand kids. Derek laid the blanket down on the sand and threw the rest of the stuff on top of it. He put up the parasol next to the blanket and Stiles put the cooler under it.

“I’m going for a swim. Want to join me?”

“No, I think I’m going to get me a tan first.”

“Alright,” He hands Stiles a one of the smaller bags. “I got you some stuff out of you apartment I thought you might like. I picked them up when you were changing, I hope you don’t mind.”

He looked inside of the bag. Inside were his iPod, his ear buds and his sunglasses. “Thank you for bringing all this stuff.”

Derek took off his t-shirt and started walking towards the sea. “You’re sure you don’t want to join me?”

“Maybe later.”

 

Stiles settled down on the blanket. Because he had no sun block on, he had to lay in the shadow of the parasol. Otherwise he would be burnt in just matter of a second. He took the iPod out of the bag, plugged in the ear buds and found his favorite song. Derek had swam very fast because the only thing Stiles could see, was a small dot, far away from shore. He made himself a sand pillow under the blanket and laid down on his back. Although the parasol was providing some shade, he could still feel the heat radiating through it. He felt his whole body relax under the heat, and for the first time in a long while he felt just good.

_That was cold. What's that?_ He slowly opened his eyes. Derek was looking at him, hair in strands, water dripping out of it directly on Stiles’ t-shirt and face. He pushed himself up with his elbows and tried to sit up.

"Please get your hair out of my face." He said without vain. "It's too damn cold."

Derek laughed. "Good."

"What's good about that? I myself like being warm."

"Until you get overheated that is. Come take a dive with me, you need to cool down a bit. And besides, we're the only once left here."

Stiles looked around, and the elderly couple had indeed left. He let out a deep sigh. He wanted to guilt trip Derek a bit, but failed miserably when he started laughing.

"Alright, Alright, I'm coming."

Derek smiled at him and started walking towards the shoreline. Stiles hastily pulled of his t-shirt and followed Derek. Derek just plunged right back into the sea. Stiles wanted to follow, but when the water hit his tows he immediately stepped back. The sea was just too cold. Derek turned around, looking at what was taking him so long.

"What are you waiting for?"

"How are you doing that? It's soo cold."

"Don't be a wuss, get in here."

"Nope not coming, too cold."

Derek started walking towards him and before Stiles could comprehend what was happening, he splashed a ton of water towards Stiles. He was completely soaked. Derek made an attempt to do it again, but he stopped him halfway.

"No, no, no, please don't. I'm getting in there already."

He quickly stepped in the water. It still was too cold for his taste. But he knew that the quickest way to get used to it was to dive under. So he held his breath and got under water. _Still too cold._

After they stood in the water for a while, Derek decided that Stiles had cooled down enough for now. Derek was walking in front of him, so when they were close to the shore Stiles decided to get payback. He kicked a gigantic amount of water against Derek' back. From which, unfortunately, more than 90% didn't hit Derek.

"That was payback."

Derek turned around and just smiled at him.

 

Derek had made them a very extensive meal. From which the best part was, obviously, dessert. After that the just talked the day away. The talked about music, old friends, their families, movies, Derek' love for surfing and cooking. The actually had a lot in common. They went in to the water one more time. This time he only went in till knee height and Derek seemed to be okay with it this time around.

When the sky started to change his colors and the temperature dropped a bit, Derek lighted one of the abandoned fire pits. He had actually brought some lamp oil and an old paper with him in the second mystery back. Derek had been right, they had just all of the stuff they had brought with them. Stiles let out a tiny laugh. Derek looked up and looked at him questioningly with his eyebrows raised high.

"I just realized we really used all the stuff you brought with."

"Told you."

 

When it had turned completely black and they could see the stars clearly, they deiced that it was time to get home. Derek extinguished the fire and Stiles put all the stuff back in the duffel back. They slowly walked back to the car.

"I had fun today."

"Me too, I'm glad you convinced me to come."

"I'm glad you liked it, maybe we should do this again sometime."

Stiles looked at Derek. "Yeah, I would like that."

 

Once Derek started driving it only took Stiles a minute to fall asleep. He didn't wake up until they were back home. Derek opened his door and asked him if he could walk. But he was too tired to talk.

***

When Derek didn't get a reaction out of Stiles he gently picked him up and carried him to his apartment. He would get the bags later. Somehow he managed to open the door without waking Stiles. He laid him down on his bed and pulled of his shoes and pants. This had to do for tonight, because he couldn't get the t-shirt off without waking Stiles. He gently pulled the blanket over Stiles. He hesitated a bit, but decided that the far side of the bed would sleep much better than the couch.


	5. Chapter 5

Stiles stayed at Derek’s till Saturday. He had told Derek that he should go home several times over the course of the last days. But Derek had made him stay. He made up several excuses about why Stiles had to stay. And they were all true, but they weren’t the real reason. Derek actually liked Stiles. And more importantly, he liked that Stiles was here. And he was surprised by that. He hadn’t liked anyone, trusted anyone since the accident. And especially not that quick. He usually needed to warm up to people, for a long, long time. And even then he might not even trust someone.

But he liked Stiles. He liked how happy Stiles was when he cooked him dinner, how he was a bit of a dork and knew everything about movie. Derek liked how they would just sit on the couch, sometimes talking about everything and nothing, other times just sitting there. He liked waking up in the same bed, they each slept on one side of the bed, but still he liked it. He liked not feeling alone all the time. He couldn't admit that thought, not even to himself. Too afraid of losing it, whatever it was that they had. Afraid that if Stiles left the illusion would end. That he would turn out to be like she was. But by Saturday afternoon he could no longer hold it off.

They were sitting on the couch, mindlessly watching some TV, while asking each other questions in turns, when Stiles said;

"I think it's time for me to get next door."

It was directly followed by a big yawn. He giggled; "You should think that after all the sleeping I did the past couple of days, I should be well rested by now. But either way I think I really need to start unpacking. I want to be settled in before Monday."

Derek just stared at him for a few seconds. He knew that Stiles was right. "Let's get you unpacked than, shall we." 

"You don't have to do that, you know, you have done more than enough for me." 

"I don't mind, and it isn't like I've got something better to do." He stood up and gestured Stiles to do the same. "Let's get this show on the road."

 

The first hour or so they worked side by side. But very soon after that Stiles started to show signs of fatigue. It worried Derek greatly, the accident happened five days ago and the wound on his head seemed to heal very well, but he seemed so tiered all the time. And there also was the gigantic bruise on his abdomen. Derek didn't know what to make of that. He had asked Stiles about it on several occasions, but Stiles always shrugged it off. But Derek felt there was something there, but he didn't want to press Stiles for answers, afraid of pushing him away. So when Stiles started to show signs of fatigue he told him to sit down.

"But I need to unpack."

"I can still do that, you know. You just sit down right here," He said, while pulling the chair into the middle of the room. "And I will do the unpacking."

"You do know I'm not an invalid, right? I'm perfectly capable of unpacking my own stuff. You can quit hovering. You don’t owe me anything and I most certainly don’t want to owe you anything. If you wanted me to suck you off you just could have asked. You wouldn’t have to go through all this trouble. I would have done it after that first day. Just go away. I'm FINE without you!"

Stiles accusations hit him like brick. Was that what Stiles thought about him? Was he turning out to be like her? Did he misread all the signals? Did Stiles feel threatened by him? His mind started spiraling, Afraid and disgusted with himself he turned around and started to walk towards the door as quiet as humanly possible. Not wanting to upset Stiles, or himself, and the situation any further. He was half way out the door when he heard a small, trembling voice.

"Derek."

He turned around and looked at Stiles. He had let himself fall down to the floor and he was sitting down there, tears flowing down his face.

"I'm so sorry, you didn't deserve that. I didn't even mean any of that." He was shaking and Derek did some hesitant steps towards him. He wanted to believe Stiles, he really did, but in his experience most people tell you the truth when they are mad at you. Stiles let out a sob.

"I...I don't know anymore." He let out another sob. "I just feel so tired all the time. But I shouldn't have taken it out on you like that. I so, so truly sorry. I can do the rest of the unpacking myself. You should just go, I can't keep you any longer. Not after what I just said"

Stiles’ eyes were turning red and he tried to cover his face with his hands.

Derek hesitated. If there was any truth in what Stiles had just said than he should leave. He couldn’t stay if Stiles felt like that. It would only make it worse. But on the other hand Stiles was clearly hurting. And if he was only saying it because he was hurting than he should stay. And help Stiles. He wanted to believe that was the case. He didn’t want this to be over.

“I need to know something. Can you look at me so I can see if you are telling the truth?” He really needed to know the truth, and luckily Stiles looked at him. “Was there any truth in what you said to me. I don’t want to think you have to make this up to me somehow. Certainly not with any sexual favors.” He blushed. “Not that I, no wait. I wouldn’t want it if it was like that. Maybe like if we both wanted it. But most certainly not like that. And if you feel like you have to do it, or you feel like you have to make it up to me somehow then.. I don’t know. Just don’t feel like that. I did it because you needed the help and I happened to like you… I mean I think you are a cool human being.” He blushed again and tried to look away. But Stiles stopped him.

“Look at me Derek and look see that I’m telling the truth when I tell you this. I didn’t mean it. I know you did it just because you are a caring person. And I know you don’t want anything in return. Thank you for that, thank you for everything. Thank you for helping me and just being there. I’m sorry I hurt you. I didn’t mean it like that. I’m just very, very tired. And just so you know, I happen to like you too. And you too are a cool and amazing human being.”

Derek looked at Stiles and saw that he was telling the truth. So he just stood there and let it soak in for a second. Stiles liked him as well.

“Okay then,” Derek started. “ I think you should take a nap or something. Just go sleep in my bed and I will finish up here.”

“You don’t have to do that.”

“I know I don’t have to do that, but I want to. Besides, what else do I have going on right now.”

Stiles laughed. “Yeah, okay that seems like a plan. But only if you really want to.”

 

So twenty minutes later he was putting Stiles’ bed together, while Stiles was laying down in his. He had already worked his way through most of the manual, when he couldn't find a small cross beam that was supposed to hold the whole structure together. He rummaged through several boxes but couldn't find it anywhere. Not wanting to go through all of Stiles’ personal belongings, he needed to find something else to do. So he settled on putting the wardrobe together. When he finished it he put all the boxes labeled "clothes" in it. Next up were the chairs and the table. It was one of those small, complete sets you can buy at IKEA, still in their IKEA box. When he had put them together he stared moving the furniture around till he found a spot for every last piece. He looked around and was satisfied with the result. He just hoped that Stiles would like it. When he had unpacked the boxes with kitchen utensils and had put all the other boxes on a neat stack in the bedroom, he decide that there was not much left to do for him. He was still bummed about the bed but there was not much he could do about that without Stiles’ help. So he went next door, baked some cupcakes and watch some TV until Stiles woke up.

  


"Hey"

Derek turned around and saw Stiles standing in the hallway, leaning against the wall. He was only wearing one of Derek’s  t-shirt, which was slightly too big for him, making it look like a mini-dress, and a pair boxers. His hair was all messed up and his cheeks were still slightly red and puffy from sleeping. In Derek’s  mind no one could ever get any cuter or more adorable than Stiles in this exact moment.

"Hey to you too. Did you sleep well?"

"Yeah, you were right, I really needed this. I feel a lot less grumpy, so that's definitely a win."

For a moment they just looked at each other in total silence. Stiles was the first to break it.

"I'm gone change and maybe we could unpack some more after that?"

"Sure, sounds like a plan to me."

Stiles turned around and walked back to the bedroom. The backside of his t-shirt had gotten stuck behind the waistband of his boxers, leaving his green boxers exposed to view. Giving Derek a front row seat to the viewing of Stiles’ perfectly formed ass.  


Stiles was pleasantly surprised when he saw how far Derek had gotten with unpacking.

"Wow, do you have some magic in you or something, no way could you have done this so fast on your own!"

Derek laughed. "Maybe I just have the right muscles for the job." He said, while showing off his biceps. Making Stiles laugh in response.

"You have waited the whole week for the right moment to show those off, haven't you?" 

  


After going through every last one of the unpacked boxes, they finally found the crossbeam. After which they could finally finish putting the bed together.

Stiles asked him to put all his dvd’s in the bookcase. There were 5 boxes full of them. And there seemed to be no real connection between the lot of them. There were movies from every genre and from every time period. When he was done stacking them Derek looked at his phone. It was 19:53, he hadn't realized it was so late already, and he suddenly noticed he was quite hungry. He looked for Stiles and found him in the bedroom putting his clothes in the closet.

"Hey, you hungry yet? Maybe we can make some food."

"Or I can order a pizza. Unless of course you are offering to cook."

Derek grinned. "I can cook, what do you want to eat?"

"I don't mind, as long as there is dessert."

"Alright, I need to go to the store for a minute to get some ingredients."

  


He went to the grocery story two block away from the apartment for some basil, pine nuts, some fresh pasta and tomatoes. On the way back home he walked past the Italian place near campus and decided to get some takeout tiramisu. The first thing Stiles asked when he entered the apartment was;

"So what are we eating?"

"I decide to make us some pasta and meatballs with a twist."

"And for dessert?"

"That's a surprise."

 

"I’m starting to really your surprises. You can surprise me anytime." Stiles said while digging into the tiramisu.

When he finished his tiramisu he asked Derek to tell him about his favorite recipe.

Derek thought about it for two seconds and then he started talking. And they didn’t stop for the rest of the evening. When he stopped it was near the clock of three. He yawned.

“I think it’s time for me to get to bed.”

“Yeah, I think it’s time for me as well”

He stood up and walked towards the door.

“First night sleeping apart.” Stiles joked.

“I will finally have the whole bed for myself again. And no snoring.”

“I don’t snore”

“Yes, you do. You have a cute and tiny snore.” He grinned and Stiles started blushing. “Don’t worry I didn’t lose any sleep over it.”

“Yeah, yeah, go get yourself some snore free sleeping. Are we still on for tomorrow?”

“We are, come over at noon. I will make you some breakfast.”

“Sleep well, I will see you tomorrow.”

“See you tomorrow.”

And with that Stiles stepped out of the door.

 

His bed was very empty without Stiles and he took him a long time to all asleep that night. And when he finally did he only dreamed about Stiles.

**Author's Note:**

> So you made it to the end. Was it any good?  
> This is my first time posting something into the Sterek universe.  
> Thanks for reading!
> 
> TalentedBind


End file.
